Middleton Truett Mustian, a former chief administrator of Tallahassee (Fla.) Memorial HealthCare, died Wednesday evening at Big Bend Hospice, also in Tallahassee. Mr. Mustian — M.T., as he was affectionately known by friends and colleagues — was 96 years old, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
Officials said Mr. Mustian's health had been declining in recent months, according to the report. Funeral services for Mr. Mustian will be held Sunday.
Here are seven things to know about Mr. Mustian and his career.
1. Mr. Mustian spent 25 years as chief administrator of TMH. He also spent several years as the head of the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Foundation.
2. Under Mr. Mustian's leadership, TMH was one of the first hospitals in the state to perform heart transplants, establish a heart catheterization lab and acquire a CT scanner and MRI machine.
3. Mr. Mustian started the hospital's first family residency program, a hospital administration internship program and a day care center for employees. He also was reportedly responsible for establishing the hospital's neurosurgery, cardiology and orthopedics departments, as well as the hospital's ambulance services, according to the report.
4. In 1971, Mr. Mustian oversaw racial integration at the hospital, hiring the facility's first black physicians and nurses and mandating the acceptance of black patients, according to the report.
5. He also successfully persuaded city officials to convert TMH into a private nonprofit corporation in 1976.
6. Mr. Mustian was born in Texarkana, Texas. He went on to graduate from Shreveport-based Centenary College of Louisiana and enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was wounded while serving in Europe during World War II and was awarded a purple heart for his efforts, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.
After the war, he graduated from Waco, Texas-based Baylor University with an accounting degree and reportedly began working part-time as a hospital administrator for a hospital in Waco, according to the report.
7. TMH officials said the facility's new $250 million surgery and ICU center, currently under construction, will be named after the former administrator. It is scheduled to open in 2019.